Your Published Letters

Your November/December '07 Published Letters

From the December 31, 2007, edition of the Washington Examiner:

Alex Brown (letter, Dec 28) claims that "humanism", which he does not define, "permeates the public schools". How could this be possible when 85% of parents, taxpayers, teachers, administrators, and school board members are Christians of one sort or another?

Mr Brown also ducks the fact that his state's (Virginia's) constitution, thanks to Virginians Jefferson and Madison in the 18th century, clearly prohibits any form of tax aid to faith-based schools. If he doesn't like that wise prohibition, he should urge his legislators to amend the state constitution, which of course they won't because they know full well that the voters would defeat any such measure, as they have in every state where the issue has been on the ballot.

Edd Doerr
Silver Spring, Md

From the December 26, 2007, edition of the Birmingham News:

Vouchers don't do any good

In evaluating the Cleveland, Ohio, 8-year-old voucher program, the Indiana University Center for Evaluation found:

Public school students, on average, actually made larger academic gains than students in the voucher program (although there is not a statistically significant difference in academic achievement).

African-American students are underrepresented in the voucher program, even though the program was promoted as a way to help low-income and minority students.

Students who leave the voucher program have, on average, the lowest test scores of any students in the study. (It was not determined if these students left the program voluntarily or were dismissed by the private schools.)

This study, which was requested by the city of Cleveland, identified no academic benefit from vouchers.

A Jan. 28, 2006, article in The New York Times reported: "A large-scale, government-financed study has concluded that when it comes to math, students in regular public schools do as well as or significantly better than comparable students in private schools."

The clandestine method of subsidizing religion known as "school vouchers" has not been a worthwhile method of improving academic performance.

David N. Miles
Orange Beach

From the December 17, 2007, edition of the Nation:

Re: 'The New Atheists'

We need to differentiate between strident 'atheist fundamentalists', who attack all religion, and humanists, who see religion as varied and are eager to work with moderate and progressive Catholics, Protestants, Jews and others with whom they share many values and concerns, such as saving our nation and our planet from the myriad threats facing us.

Edd Doerr
Silver Spring, Md

From the December 14, 2007, edition of the TimesDaily:

How to avoid atheists

In her Dec. 7 letter, "Beware of book," Kathy Momic tells us that children should be protected against atheism.

She probably isn't acquainted with an atheist but "knows" that atheists are possessed by the devil, don't know right from wrong and don't believe in anything.

There are certain precautions she can take to protect herself and her children from these agents of Lucifer.

She could join an organization that does not admit atheists, e.g., the Ku Klux Klan, the Mafia, Christian militia groups. She could join a God-fearing terrorist group that blows up abortion clinics and high-rise buildings (Oklahoma City, World Trade Center); or she could restrict her friends to those spewing venomous hate upon individuals the Bible says should be put to death, e.g., non-believers and homosexuals.

To be on the safe side, there are havens of atheism that she should avoid: Ivy League universities; the Nobel laureate laden National Academy of Sciences; organizations concerned with the environment or civil rights; and Scandinavia, where the percentage of atheists is at least three times that of the United States.

She should stay in the Bible Belt with the highest religiosity (and highest violent crime rate) in the country.

The absurdity of religious myopia was exemplified after the 1997 school shootings in Paducha, Ky. In defense of the young killer who somebody called "godless," his pastor at the Lutheran Church said, "Michael Carnael is a Christian. He's a sinner, yes, but not an atheist."

I wonder if that made his victims less dead or the crime less wrong.

David N. Miles
Orange Beach

From the December 11, 2007, edition of the Idaho Statesman:

BEOWULF: Tale offers a metaphorfor modern struggles

The movie "Beowulf" reminds us of that first true masterpiece in English literature. For those of northern European ancestry, Beowulf is all that is left of our Genesis. The epic describes a time before Mediterranean missionaries arrived with their alien mystery religion about some mythical pagan vegetable deity who died and rose again.

Reaching across more than a millennium, "Beowulf " speaks to us today as an allegory for what afflicts our great nation. Just as "Beowulf" had to contend with the twin demons Grendel and Grendel's mother, so America is contending with the twin demons Bush and Cheney.

Like Beowulf, America will smite the Bush-Cheney demons next year when it rises up in righteous anger at the deceitful, treacherous, murderous usurpers who have brought so much misery to the world.

Sadly, just as in the "Beowulf" epic, there is another, more insidious monster waiting to confront us. Like the fire-breathing dragon that attacked "Beowulf," the angry Christian right is assaulting America with its venomous lies. Will America fall prey to the religious Reich or is there some Wiglaf who will end the religious war of terror that has been launched by angry, unemployable televangelists and their local lackeys?

GARY L. BENNETT, Emmett

From the December 10, 2007, edition of the Tuscaloosa News:

God should not be proselytized

Dear Editor: Pastor Dan Williams asks, 'If there is no God, what is he [Blair Scott] worried about the students being proselytized to?' [letters, 12/05/07]. I ask the pastor if he would tolerate proselytizing for Allah in classrooms. Alternatively, does he believe Allah has equal standing with his God? Proselytizing about God is hardly proselytizing about nothing, as he spins it. This is an attempt to use public schools to influence students to believe in the Judeo-Christian god described in the Bible and to promote Christianity.

Pastor Williams states. 'If God is nothing, then the Bible speaks to nothing and points to nothing and nobody.' The Bible originally spoke to the people who created the Bible, the Hebrews. It spoke to them about there culture, beliefs and their god, as well as other gods. This book can be a source of knowledge of a Semitic culture just as the Qur'an, the Iliad and Norse mythology can be a source of knowledge about other cultures and their superstitions.

Of course, Pastor Williams is really saying that a person who does not believe in God doesn't believe in anything and has a life of emptiness. This is pure nonsense. I want to know, not just believe. As soon as a proposition is supported by credible evidence, I accept it as fact. My mind is filled with evidence-supported beliefs. To me, there is nothing more rewarding, fulfilling and valuable than knowledge. Belief without evidence is meaningless.

David N. Miles
Orange Beach

From the December 10, 2007, edition of the Washington Examiner:

Nonbelievers deserve their own holiday film

Examiner Columnist Meghan Cox Gurdon bemoans the humanist themes in the book and film "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman. Yet her harangue appears as ignorant and intolerant as the boycott and protests by the Catholic League.

Pullman is not a "militant atheist," but philosophically an agnostic who prefers to avoid labels. And he has said that the religious impulse "is a critical part of the wonder and awe that human beings feel."

As for the film, which my family and I saw and enjoyed, it is really against intolerance and tyranny whether religious or otherwise - and reaffirms such values as kindness, intellectual curiosity and courage. Does Ms. Gurdon believe that those messages are wrong just because they come from a non-Christian author during the holidays?

Please understand that those of us with different ideas enjoy books and films, have children and celebrate the holidays, too. Can't we have a holiday film as well?

Fred Edwords
Director of Communications
American Humanist Association
Washington

From the December 6, 2007, edition of the Montgomery Advertiser:

Look what secular minds produced

Kirk Wood should back up his disdain for secular humanists by boycotting the products of their secular minds. The fruits of quantum mechanics are: X-rays, CT scans, MRI scanners, ultrasound, laser surgery, radiotherapy and cyclotron beams for cancer treatment, transistors, microwaves and optical fibers. The giants of quantum mechanics have also been the giants of secularism.

Albert Einstein -- awarded the Nobel Prize for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. On March 24, 1954, Einstein answered a letter as follows: "It was, or course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly."

Steven Weinberg -- shared the Nobel Prize for contributing to the unification of the weak and electromagnetic forces in a single theory. He stated, "One of the great achievements of science has been, if not to make it impossible for intelligent people to be religious, then at least to make it possible for them not to be religious."

Richard P. Feynman -- won the Nobel Prize in physics for his work on quantum electrodynamics. Feynman said, "There is definitely a conflict, I believe -- both in fact and in spirit -- over the metaphysical aspects of religion."

Murray Gell-Mann -- received the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the quark and other elementary particles. He was Humanist of the Year of the American Humanist Association for 2005.

David N. Miles
Orange Beach

From the November 18, 2007, edition of the Utica Observer-Dispatch:

'Anti-Catholic' movie grossly exaggerated

The Catholic League recently called for a boycott of "The Golden Compass", a movie based on the first of three children’s fantasy books by Philip Pullman. The author, an open atheist, is accused of trying to “sell atheism to kids” and “bash Catholicism.”

This boycott is grossly exaggerated and severely misinformed.

The Catholic League says that atheism is “fueled by hate,” further spreading the prejudiced connotation. Sweeping statements like this are made throughout this campaign and reveal their intolerance of free thought and demonization of intellectual curiosity.

At the very least, the protesters must concede that the good and bad happen with and without the backing of religion. We should teach our children to embrace stories for the lessons they teach, not for who’s teaching them. I think that the Catholic League’s time would be better spent protesting the moral inadequacies within their own church.

Adam C. LaMonica

From the November 17, 2007, edition of the Anniston Star:

Reliance on prayer

Writer Stephen Wade states, "We need to put prayer back in school. It will teach them to rely on God more than the gun." Unfortunately, because relying on God has proved to be an exercise in futility, we have been forced to rely on the gun at times. People have been praying for peace for centuries, and for centuries armed conflict has shaped human history. God either thrives on human carnage, is deaf and blind, doesn.t give a darn or doesn't exist. Those who "rely on God' and call for prayer tell us that God is the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient one who loves us dearly. If so, do we really have to clue God in, and then beg him to keep multitudes of innocent people from being mutilated and destroyed? Students should learn to take responsibility for their own actions and spend more time learning about and understanding worldly events. They then would be better able to solve their own and the world's problems. We are not in a position to enjoy the luxury of simplistic solutions. e.g., prayer. Teaching schoolchildren to "rely on God" does them a disservice.

David N. Miles
Orange Beach

From the November 13, 2007, edition of the Montgomery Advertiser:

'Bible contains contradictions'

Gary Hardin is still waiting to see a biblical error. Each of the following pairs of biblical contradictions must contain an erroneous statement:

Our planet is eternal: "The earth abideth forever." (Ecclesiastes 1:4) It is doomed to extinction: "The elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and works that are therein shall be burned up," (II Peter 3:10)

God is visible: "And the Lord appeared unto him." (Genesis 26:2); or invisible: "No man hath seen God at any time," (John 1:18).

God is all-powerful: "For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth," (Revelations 19:6). He is not stronger than iron: "but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron," (Judges 1:19).

The Lord said, "I am the Lord, I change not." (Malachi 3:6) However, he is not above seeing the folly of his ways and changing: "And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people." (Exodus 32:14)

David N. Miles
Orange Beach

From the November 11, 2007, edition of the Tuscaloosa News:

'Bible full of immoral acts'

Dear Editor: If 'The Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of Almighty God,' we need a new god. Here is a small sampling of the immoral, unethical and violent acts condoned and sometimes promoted by God and His Bible.

Adultery: Biblical hero Abraham impregnates his wife's servant.

Animal cruelty: Jesus sends 2,000 pigs plunging into the sea where they choke to death.

Anti-family values: Jesus proclaims, 'For I am come to set man against his father, and daughter against her mother ... '

Bigamy: Biblical hero Solomon possessed 700 wives.

Bigotry: God gives Moses the commandment to put all homosexuals to death.

Cannibalism: 'This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him.'

Child abuse: 'Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against stones.'

Deceit: Biblical hero King David befriends Uriah and then has him killed so he can have Uriah's wife.

Incest: Lot's daughters get their father drunk and both get pregnant by him.

Intolerance, egomania and cruel mindedness: 'He that believeth not shall be damned.'

Slavery: Bible gives rules concerning a slave's obedience to his owner.

Violence: 'And we took all his cities and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones.'

Woman abuse: Biblical hero Moses dictates. 'But all the woman children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.'

David N. Miles
Orange Beach

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